Page 3 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight
“What for?”
“It’s nearly five.”
Grady watched as a swirl of wind kicked up and tousled the hair around Cole’s face before settling again, the little bugs dancing in the light between them.
“You wanted me to start at five,” Cole said, something earnest yet guarded in his voice.
“All right,” Grady said, figuring, what the hell, what’s the worst that could happen? Kid plants it through a fence while Grady’s sleeping and Grady repairs the fence.
He went back to the cabin and heard Cole following him, felt his presence at his back. He swung himself up into the seat and grabbed his bag and thermos. He was about to get out when he glanced down and saw Cole studying the gears like he was aiming not to be seen doing it. Grady decided to throw him a bone.
“You been drivin’ this model before?”
Cole looked up. He smothered his surprise, cleared his throat. “Not this one, no. My daddy’s got an older one. I think.”
Grady grunted and got to explaining how to shift gears, how to turn with the combine, when to turn, then where he was at with the field and what Cole could expect to get done.
“It’s gonna be hot, but I ain’t got no AC in here, so it might be best to call it and come on back in for lunch.”
Cole nodded. “I’ll be all right.”
Grady wasn’t sure about that, and it wasn’t like he could afford to replace the tractor if the kid did some damage, but screw it. If Cole pulled it off, Grady would have the crop in just in time for the real rains, and that’d be something. Provided they got rain this year. The downpour that’d allowed him to put the crop in at all didn’t mean more was coming if the past years were anything to go by, and the unseasonable dragging of the heat meant the chatter in town ran to another drought. But he sprayed after that rain, then started seeding because what else was he going to do?
“All right,” Grady said and jumped down. He set off in the direction of the house and left the truck. The dogs looked between him and Cole and decided to stay. They’d come back when it was too hot, Grady knew—still, it wasn’t like them to leave his side. Them deciding Cole was all right made Grady think maybe letting him stay was going to be all right too.
3
G
rady woke up confused.He wasn’t sure where he was and what he was meant to be doing. It took him a minute to realize it was because it was late afternoon, the light in his room threatening to go dark. Then he remembered Cole and wondered if he’d have a huge hole in one of his fences when he went out. He lay still for a moment and listened for the sound of the kid in the house. Nothing.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t slept right through the day in a long time, and he cursed all the stupid thinking he’d done all night—wasting energy and making him tired.
Grady was yanking on his jeans and fastening the buttons when he heard the front door groan open. He figured the kid must’ve gone out again. He started thinking on the damage Cole might be trying to hide when he heard his voice—gentle words Grady couldn’t make out, and then the tell-tale sound of nails clicking on the floorboards.
Oh, hell no.
Grady grabbed his shirt, shrugged it onto his shoulders and went out. He could hear the kid and the dogs in the kitchen, Cole murmuring to them softly. He pounded down the stairs in a way he knew would let the dogs know they were in some serious shit.
In the kitchen, the dogs sat at attention at Cole’s feet as he fed them some pieces of cold meat from the plate.
Grady cleared his throat. Cole spun around, eyes wide.
The damn dogs swung their faces to Grady as if to say,Hey, boss, then refocused on Cole, their tails thumping on the floor.
“Ain’t supposed to be inside,” Grady said.
“Oh! Sorry,” Cole looked at the dogs, then back to Grady. “I just wanted to reward them, they stayed with me all day.” He fed them some more meat, his fingers greasy with the fat he let the dogs lick off each digit.
“You worked all day?”
Cole looked up, his eyes landing on Grady’s bare chest. He didn’t look away. He seemed to be actuallylooking, but then he realized what he was doing, blushed, dropped his gaze, and said, “Yeah.”
Grady started buttoning up his shirt.
“Field’s done,” Cole said, eyes fixed on his socked feet as he patted the dogs.
“It’s done,” Grady repeated.
